The Fake Wedding Was For Me, The Real One For Her Chapter 08

The Fake Wedding Was For Me, The Real One For Her Chapter 08

The guards had Chloe pinned to the stone floor in seconds. The head maid was faster-she crossed the

room and backhanded Chloe across the face before anyone could stop her.

“This lunatic dares insult the princess? Drag her to the dungeons and let the whip teach her some manners!”

Chloe’s screams filled the courtyard. But that wasn’t what stopped me.

My family and Julian. Not one of them even glanced at Chloe.

They were staring at me – all of them – like they were looking at a ghost. Julian dropped to his knees.

“Clara – oh God, Clara, we found you…”

“I’m sorry. Everything all of it was my fault. Please forgive me. Come back with us.”

“Clara!” Arthur stepped forward, his eyes rimmed red.

“Everyone misses you – Mom and Dad are barely holding it together. They’ve aged a decade since you left.”

“We begged the spiritualist for ages before he’d agree to send us. A fleeting window of time-that’s all we

get.”

“We’ll find a way to bring you home. We’ll beg him – whatever it takes -”

“Clara – my baby – I finally get to see you!”

Mom lunged for me, sobbing, arms outstretched.

I stepped aside. She hit the ground.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” My voice came out cold. Good.

“My mother is the Queen. My brother is the Crown Prince.” I let each word land like a blade.

“I’m married. I have a husband.”

I let the silence hold for a beat.

“Didn’t the spiritualist tell you? Once the souls are separated, there’s no going back. Ever.”

“That’s not true!” Julian was on his feet.

“There has to be a way. There HAS to be.”

I almost laughed.

So they already knew-that the swap was permanent. It hadn’t even been that long.

They’d loved Chloe so much. How had they burned through that devotion this fast?

“Clara, we were wrong. Your mother and I – we were so wrong.” Dad’s voice broke. “Give us one more

chance. Please. Let us make it right.”

“We shouldn’t have played favorites. We shouldn’t have treated you like that just because you couldn’t -”

“What’s all this noise?”

Nathaniel stepped through the doorway before Dad could finish. One hand found my wrist and drew me

behind him.

He studied them – my family, kneeling and weeping on his floor – and then he smiled. It wasn’t a kind smile.

“Guards-these trespassers have disrespected the princess. Seize them. Bring the lash.”

He paused, as if considering how many strikes to order. Then he changed his mind.

“Don’t stop until their time here runs out. Then let them go.”

His smile sharpened.

“A decade of what you put her through-consider this the down payment.”

“You” Julian’s head snapped up.

“Who the hell are you? How do you -”

The first blow landed. Julian’s words broke apart into screaming.

The courtyard filled with screaming – raw, animal sounds that didn’t seem human. My parents blacked out from the pain. Arthur was drenched in sweat, shaking. Julian’s face was streaked with tears and red marks.

Nathaniel laced his fingers through mine and sighed.

“You know what’s great about this place? No security cameras.”